LCD Soundsystem, American Dream A- | Mogwai, Every Country’s Sun B+ | War On Drugs, A Deeper Understanding A- | EMA, Exile In The Outer Ring B+ | Brand New, Science Fiction B+ | Queens Of The Stone Age, Villains B | Iron & Wine, Beast Epic A

Every Friday, dozens of new records are released into the wild. Some make big splashes, and others sink almost immediately. For most music consumers, it’s almost too much information, and save for those precious few who spend their hours glued to review sites and release calendars, it’s hard to know what’s coming out…

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD) has always embraced the future. Formed in 1978 by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, the duo hobnobbed with post-punk innovators, opening for Joy Division and Gary Numan in its early days, while distinguishing itself through its use of then-cutting-edge technology. As the ’80s…

At this point, Mogwai could be forgiven for resting on its laurels. The group has grown into an acclaimed international act, 22 years and counting, with a reliable musical formula that’s steady as a slow-burning fuse. That remarkable consistency makes Every Country’s Sun resemble a greatest-hits album, even if it’s…

Of the few 2016 records I find I’m still listening to regularly, Princess Nokia’s 1992 mixtape probably tops the list. Because 1992 was my introduction to the 25-year-old New Yorker, I know her first and foremost as a scrappy underground MC, but Nokia—real name Destiny Frasqueri—is an unfathomably multitalented…

“We’ve always talked about how we’d never betray anyone who cares about us, but here we are now,” James Murphy wrote in a lengthy Facebook post early last year, shortly after the news had broken that his band, LCD Soundsystem, would be returning after just five years of “retirement.” After the surprise and the jaded la…

Welcome back to AVC Sessions, our new series where we bring in an artist, band, musician, singer, rapper, etc. to perform three of their own tracks. This week, we get intimate with Andy Hull and Robert McDowell of Atlanta indie-rock band Manchester Orchestra. Yesterday, the duo gave an emotional performance of “The…

Last night, after a social media blackout that eerily coincided with the eclipse, then a bunch of cryptic posts of snakes, and finally, the unveiling of her “graphically designed” album cover, Taylor Swift released her new single, “Look What You Made Me Do.” It’s a song that is, almost entirely and exclusively, about…